Organization

Conductor

Kellen Gray

Singer

Chabrelle Williams

Soprano

Artist

Jonathan Green

Orchestra

Charleston Symphony Orchestra

Masterworks: Dvorak´s 8th Symphony

Charleston

United States

Charleston Gaillard Center

DVORAK’S 8TH SYMPHONY "Oh Le’ Me Shine": Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163 Dvořák,A (+3 More)

Public

Symphony No. 8 in G Major, op. 88

Dunbar Songs

Negro Folk Symphony

Songs of the Season (arr. Edward Hart)

Approved

Don't miss Dvorak's 8th Symphony, conducted by Kellen Gray. March 24 & 25 at 7:30pmCharleston Gaillard CenterPurchase tickets at:https://charlestonsymphony.o...

Music is certainly one way to express individuality, but it is also a great unifier, helping to relate people to one another despite their differences. It can connect people across cultures and continents with ideas and feelings. In this concert, two incredible symphonies from two seemingly disparate composers (Antonín Dvořák and William Dawson) will demonstrate how traditional music from their cultures informed their symphonic works. William Dawson incorporated African American spirituals while Antonín Dvořák integrated folks tunes from his Czech homeland.

Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony constantly beckons the listener to dance, though it is not a dance piece. Even in its more solemn moments, the symphony is spirited, graceful, and optimistic. The music soars over and traces the spirit of Bohemia so much that the listener is transported to Dvořák’s home country.

Edward Hart, a friend and frequent partner of the CSO, is a South Carolina composer and dean of the College of Charleston School of the Arts. Hart created A Hymn, from “Dunbar Songs” as a musical setting for a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar – a leading Black American writer from the late 19th-early 20th centuries. Another work – Margaret Bonds’ Songs of the Season orchestrated by Hart – will make its world premiere during this concert as part of the CSO’s Project Aurora. Bonds, who passed in 1972, wrote vocal works (among her many other compositions) called art songs which included elements of jazz and American poetry.

William Dawson’s three movements of Negro Folk Symphony (I. The Bond of Africa, II. Hope in the Night, and III. O Le’ Me Shine, Shine Like a Morning Star!) draw from familiar spirituals, but also traditional African rhythms inspired by a trip to Africa. Yet it is anything but derivative. In fact, its originality brought audiences to their feet when it premiered in 1934. The CSO’s Associate Conductor Kellen Gray will lead this program. Gray recorded the William Dawson symphony with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in January 2022, and the album was just released in October 2022. Click here! 

In collaboration with the CSO and Project Aurora, enjoy an immersive multimedia concert experience as world-renowned Charleston painter Jonathan Green will present curated artwork inspired by the program.

English

Masterworks: Dvorak´s 8th Symphony by Dvořák, Hart, E., Dawson, William L., Bonds, M., From (2023/2023), Conductor Kellen Gray, Charleston Gaillard Center, Charleston, United States

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